Wasted
by poprika
Summary: Oneshot. Friendship. It's taken so much for granted. You never realize what you have until it's gone. You waste away days and opportunities, never knowing that you'll regret it later... My name is Kai Hiwatari.


Taiy-Chan: Just got an urge to do this. First shot at real sadness! Yeah! Kai POV. NOT yaoi. FRIENDSHIP Fic.

Disclaimer: Taiy-Chan doesn't own Beyblade or any of it's characters.

Dedication: This is dedicated to all of my friends. Jose, Burningfate, Michiyasha, Demdova, Alex, Lis, Lacey, Linda and Ally. I care for you guys more than you'd ever begin to understand. Love you all like the sisters I've never had. Don't ever forget that.

* * *

Wasted

The hardest thing is to say goodbye. Everything just hangs on that little word. It's used everyday, though no one knows the true meaning to it.

Friendship. It's taken so much for granted. You never realize what you have until it's gone. You waste away days and opportunities, never knowing that you'll regret it later. When you lose someone, you wish that you had the time and the sense to spend more time with them, you wish you could start over, turn back time.

But time is not something you can toy with. It's the most powerful thing in this world. It's erodes mountains, dries up rivers, takes lives, it ends everything. The most powerful being could be stopped. All by time. And the worst thing about it is it never stops. Nothing lasts forever.

My name is Kai Hiwatari, age twenty-six. In my teenage years, I made myself known to the world through Beyblading. It all started in Moscow, Russia at a Beyblading school, the Abby. Funny, it all ended there too.

I lost my parents when I was four. My only living relative was my grandfather, Voltaire. He took me to the Abby and had me trained. He wanted me to be the perfect blader, to grow up into the strongest soldier. The practices were hard and long. We couldn't make one mistake, because that would mean punishment, and failure.

The worse thing about it was that we couldn't leave, even if we wanted to. All of us had no family to run to, no place to go. The Abby was our home, whether we liked it or not.

I met Tala there. He was the same age as me and had lost his parents in a car accident. Voltaire heard about this and took him in. He came just before me, but we found each other almost instantly. Just like that, we were inseparable.

You can say that the Abby was like an orphanage. Whenever Voltaire heard about an accident killing parents and leaving the child alone, or whenever a street kid was found in the alleyways, he would bring them to the Abby. Later, they would wish they stayed on the streets.

While we were growing up, everything was fine. Other then the hard training and endless work, nothing else was wrong. Tala and I met up with Bryan, Spencer and Ian, and later, we became the Demolition Boys.

When we reached our teenage years, things got worse. The training was harder, the pressure heavy. We didn't know how horrible punishment could be until we made our first mistake.

We thought it was just the regular lecture and detention, but it was far worse. We were beaten, chained to the wall. We were helpless. But the worse thing was that they enjoyed hurting us, taking away our soul.

But we stuck together, all of us. But most of all, me and Tala. We were opposites, and we were the best of friends. We adopted each other as brothers, and made ourselves a family that we so deserved, but didn't have.

We were silly back then, we said that we'd be together always, we'd never be apart. Tala and I made a promise to always be friends, no matter what. We were so stupid, so blind that we didn'trealize just how wrong we were.

We did grow up together, for the most part. But, no, we will never spend our lives together and we won't die together.

He died before me.

* * *

One day, there was a huge fight going on down in the basement of the Abby, all guards were down there, and me and Tala were heading there too. We were passing the front doors when we realized that there was no one there. No one to stop us from running away. From escaping. 

I remember looking at Tala, excitement growing in me. But his eyes were blank, his face determined. I told him that we should run, we should get away. But he shook his head.

_"Bryan, Spencer and Ian are down there. I don't want to leave them."_

_As much as I wanted to leave, I didn't want to abandon my friends. If we go, we all go together._

_I nodded and turned to head back to our rooms, but he stopped me. _

_"You go. Get out of here." _

_I stared at him. No way I was leaving without him. I had nowhere to go, no other friends to turn to. Why? I shook my head. _

_"Not leaving alone." I had said. _

_Tala turned to me and gripped my shoulders._

_"You have suffered more than any of us. At least if you get out of here one of us would be able to live a good life."_

_I just shook my head again. He sighed._

_"What would you do if you were me in this situation?" _

_Without hesitating I answered._

_"I'd tell you to get your ass out of that door and live a happy life."_

_He smiled then, something we hadn't done for a while. _

_"Take your own advise." _

_I planted my feet and glared at him._

_"I'm not leaving." Before I could blink, I was staring down the barrel of a gun. I let out a short gasp. Tala held the gun steadily, and looked at me with his cool, blue eyes._

_"You wouldn't dare." I had whispered. _

_"You know I wouldn't, but I want to show you how serious I am."_

_"Where would I go, Tala? Where would I stay? I have no family! I-"_

_"You have money, go to Japan. You have a house there, right?" I nodded._

_Tala glanced to his right. Footsteps. The guards were coming back to their posts. The fight was dealt with._

_He looked back at me and told me to go, more urgently this time._

_"Please, Kai. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." I turned towards the door._

_The footsteps grew louder, no much time was left._

_Tala lowered his gun._

_"Hurry up!" _

I ran two steps towards the huge, brass doors, two steps to freedom. I turned around and hesitated, willing him to tell me to stop, to come back. But he didn't. Instead, he smiled.

_"Just remember, Kai. They can't keep us here for all time. Cause nothing lasts forever. And no matter what, we'll always be friends."_

* * *

I had escaped that day. I was finally free. But even now, I regret that. I should've stayed, I had been a coward. Now, I wonder that if I have stayed, maybe his death could've been prevented. 

I moved to Japan and there joined the Bladebreakers. They were a good team, though they didn't understand me. They'd never be able to. No matter how hard they tried. We traveled around the world. Getting closer and closer to winning the championships. I should have been excited, like they were, it was my dream. But it was a dream that I had shared with Tala and the rest of the Demolition Boys. Whenever we talked about it, it would be us, winning the championships and getting out of the Abby. A happy ending.

But life isn't a fairytale.

* * *

Finally, the Bladebreakers made it to Moscow, and I was back home. I knew we were going to face the Demolition Boys, my old team. We'd both be fighting for the world title. 

I had thought that maybe, just maybe, if I went back then our dream wouldn't be lost. We could team up again and defeat the Bladebreakers and win.

But nothing turns out as planned in my life.

When I went back to the Abby, I had promised Boris to work for him once again and was finally reunited with my friends.

But they were not as I had left them. They were lifeless soldiers, it was all I could do to get them to even acknowledge me. I didn't know what to do. I thought that, maybe, they'd snap out of it. But it wouldn't happen. A couple days later, I went back to the Bladebreakers and we won the World Championships.

Two days later, the Abby caught on fire.

I had rushed over there. It was mass chaos.

Kids from the Abby were running everywhere, out onto the streets and into buildings. Firefighters and the police were there too. I didn't care. I ran into the Abby in search of my friends.

I found Bryan. Spencer and Ian on the stairs down to the basement. They gave me a gun. Boris was still trying to prevent the children from leaving, and the guards had already killed two kids.

They told me that Tala was still downstairs, and we ran down, searching for our friend.

It was horrible. Fire was everywhere and the smoke was thick, but still we went on. Until we found him in one of the many corridors winding underneath the ground.

Boris was there, pointing a gun at the red head and was ready to fire. Tala was trapped. He had run to a dead end and was unarmed. But he was not alone, behind him stood a little girl, no more than five years old. Her face was covered with soot and her hands were bleeding.

I held up my gun and pointed it at Boris's head, without a second thought, I pulled the trigger. But two guns went off. And Boris wasn't the only one who fell to the floor.

I ran over to Tala, and knelt beside him holding his limp frame in my arms. At first, I thought he was dead, but then, his eyes slowly opened.

I will never forget the look on his face, as death started to claim him. It was so content, like a soldier finally coming home from the battlefield.

I remember crying, big, wet tears rolling down my painted cheek.

_"Told you nothing lasts forever." _he coughed. Then, he smiled. _"I can never tell me how much you mean to me, Kai. You were the only family I've ever had."_

_"Don't say that. You're going to be okay. The paramedics are coming. They'll help you." _My voice had wavered as I spoke. Tala shook his head.

_"My time is up, Kai."_ he told me. He looked at me with those beautiful, ice blue eyes and held my gaze. _"Life is a risk we're all forced to take, and this is where my journey ends. But I have no regrets. I just don't want to be forgotten, but I think I did a pretty good job on that. Thank you, Kai. For making my life worth living."_

Then, he was gone. His eyes had drifted shut and his body relaxed. I had held him for a long time, crying the most I had for years. But the thing that hurt most, was that I didn't even get to say goodbye.

* * *

The hardest thing is to say goodbye. Everything just hangs on that little word. It's used everyday, though no one knows the true meaning to it. 

Friendship. It's taken so much for granted. You never realize what you have until it's gone. You waste away days and opportunities, never knowing that you'll regret it later. When you lose someone, you wish that you had the time and the sense to spend more time with them, you wish you could start over, turn back time.

But time is not something you can toy with. It's the most powerful thing in this world. It's erodes mountains, dries up rivers, takes lives, it ends everything. The most powerful being could be stopped. All by time. And the worst thing about it is it never stops. Nothing lasts forever.

So what do you do when you can't turn back time? When the past has gone and you can't change it?

You remember, and you never forget.

* * *

Taiy-Chan: Short, I know. But I can't make it any longer. Thank you for reading. I hope I made you guys feel the least bit like crying. That'd be good enough for me. Please RR! I tried my best and I hope you liked it. Thanks. 

To my friends, who, hopefully have read this, I love you guys so much, and I'd risk my life for you. Let's not ever forget our time we spent together. Because, sometimes, memories are all you've got.


End file.
